Saturday, January 30, 2010

The Fashionista and I recently went to lunch at Modern Steak. I was instantly struck by how Draperesque the decor was. Dorothyherself would have been happy to have dined here. It is as if the dazzling designer, Cathy Hayes, perhaps channeled Draper.The effervescent chandeliers have classic lines with a bubbly twist. I am saving this image in the personal style file of my mind. The chair finish looks like silver leaf which perhaps could be recreated with a bit of spray paint if I am lucky enough to discover an open backed beauty. The true va va va voom comes from the tasseled corseting detail. It was held in place by upholstery staples. (Aren’t you glad I inspected this piece so closely for you? :) Touches of lavender appear throughout the restaurant~ from the gingham shirts and converse sneakers of the wait staff down to this lovely little dresser tucked into a baby blue niche. Eye Candy! Although I don’t normally take pictures of bathrooms, this one begged for it. The mirrored ceiling reflected all of its fuchsia fabulousness. You may have heard that Arizona has recently been pummeled by rain and tornado’s so dining outside was not an option. But I loved the astro turf green of the benches alongside the tangelo chairs. A true citrusy delight. Oh and for those of you who are foodies~ I had the pastrami on rye and Fashionista had the Kobe burger. We were both swooning with delight over the accompanying French fries. Bon appetite!Laura

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Have you ever wanted to add a chair rail to your bedroom wall? Perhaps you have a desire to update your bathroom windows with a bit of decorative trim.Maybe you have been dreaming of adding some dentil molding to your existing fireplace mantle.Do you have some beautiful plates hung on the wall that would look even lovelier if they were framed out?It is actually quite easy to add any of these treatments to your home. Depending on the size of the project, it can be very inexpensive as well. Enter in my MITER BOX TUTORIAL.

In my own home I have tried to camouflage a large dated mirror in my front bath a variety of ways. There was the Beachy Bathroom. As well as the popular Ikea Frame out.For its third transition I wrapped up my mirrored monstrosity in a big pretty frame.

Although I do try to stick to the one take rule there are times when you just have to start over. But here is the fun blooper for your enjoyment.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Because he is all boy, after a few wearings (seriously~like 3 or 4) his jeans end up looking like this:

He says that the holes are caused by playing sports, but I wonder if he is secretly doing this:

So off to the sewing section I go to pick up a packet of iron on patches. Normally I get a 4 pack of dark denim but recently a two shade pack accidently made its way into my cart.

I didn’t notice the color difference until after I opened the pack. Ugh! What’s a girl to do? I went ahead and used the dark patches on pants that were still worthy enough to be worn to school.

But there was one pair of pants that the knees were totally shot out and the hems were also a disaster. When pants get to this point they are down graded to weekend only wear. Sometimes though the pants are sneaky and get put on and exit out the door before I catch on.

Trying to avoid this scenenario I decided that if I ironed on the light colored patches onto the ratty dark denim jeans that they would magically transform themselves into a red flag of “Do not wear these to school.” pants. Mr. Decor actually laughed at me and said that in order for Sweet Boy NOT to wear the dreaded pants they would also have to say “To Cool for Skool”. So out came the navy fabric marker.

What do you know, it totally worked and it made Sweet Boy laugh. Do you have patched pants that are “To cool for skool?”

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Last Friday the weather was glorious here in Phoenix. (For those of you shoveling snow just remember for five months out of the year it is hot enough to singe your eyeballs.) I had reserved a spot in Terri Brush’s beginning soldering class. It was held in a lovely home in Phoenix that even had a pond full of koi.

Roses and vinca’s were all abloom.

The event was hosted by Melrose Vintage and they had set up a few of their delightful wares for sale.

Frozen Charlotte’s in a sleigh.

Cupid has landed.

Lunch was beautifully presented. I coveted the chandelier.

We dined al fresco.

Here is a close up of one of the yummy and very chippy Chippendale chairs.

Truly talented Terri and her amazing assistant Kristin.

I first laid out the images I wanted to capture between glass. I created seven charms that were all very different.

I made just one charm for myself. It became a talisman of sorts. I adore the 3D chair.

This is the back of the pendant. I often shop at the grocery store while dressed like this:

I am participating in a Valentine swap and just might be persuaded to enclose this in the package I send off.

I left this charm in it’s original silver state while most of the others received an additional patina treatment.

Monday, January 18, 2010

On Wednesday I will start a new semester at college. Sadly, one of my four classes was dropped due to lack of enrollment. I am sure that it will in some way become a blessing. For those of you who enjoy my school antics and lovingly pray for me, thank you so much. One of the classes that really challenged me last semester was an advanced lighting class. Early on our instructor informed us that we could opt out of a term paper if we created our own light fixture. So I turned to the internet for inspiration and had my socks knocked off by this beauty:If you are a longtime reader of my blog you know that every now and again I get up on my well designed soapbox made from reclaimed wood and extol the virtues of living green. So when I first saw this wonderful creation entitled “One Man’s Treasure Lamp” by artist Robert Ogden my eyes (pardon the pun) lit up. I had to know more. Mr. Ogden is an artist who resides in Germantown, PA. He initially moved to Philadelphia for a job with Anthropologie. This came as no surprise to me. I have often spoke of my adoration for that store which is well known for its one of a kind fabulousness. Clearly, this clever man fits their bill perfectly with his extraordinary talents of turning old sewing machine and plumbing parts coupled with general junk into truly one of a kind treasures. In 1996 Mr. Ogden, a self taught artist and metalsmith, began a company called True Resources. It sold his furniture, brilliantly repurposed decor and of course, lamps. In 2002 he turned the operation over to Ben Beiler and the company was renamed Peddler’s Home Design. Mr. Ogden remains the chief designer and now travels the globe in search of inspirational objects which he magically transforms into metallic feasts for the eyes. You can find his delightful designs through retailers such as Mothology, Sundance Catalog and smart former employer Anthropologie. At this point and time his objets d’art remain a bit out of my price range. However, I must say that on my quest to create a lamp of my own, I found that just a single component to his designs, such as an antique mercury shade, are quite pricey. Given the materials and work involved his prices are justified and this is saying something as you know how frugal I am. Indeed after many bidding war losses on Ebay, I had to forgo my dream of creating a lamp and sadly wrote a term paper instead. The topic was on Salvaged Lighting. I of course noted my artistic crush on Mr. Ogden and it would seem that my teacher fell in love with him as well. I got an A. With just one look I know that many of you will jump on the I Adore Robert Ogden bandwagon too. How can you not admire a man who created a beautiful kitchen from cabinets obtained from the As Is section of Ikea? His countertops rival lovely soapstone which are made from… are you ready for this: bathroom stall dividers. Then there is the lighting. I am swooning for his ceiling lamps which are truly whimsical delights. Although I haven’t yet created my own one of a kind luminary masterpiece, rest assured, the desire is still there. My journey began last Friday when I took a class on soldering. I’ll share my creations from the class in an upcoming post. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway one post down.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

I have accomplished so much during my blogging sabbatical. I have quite a few projects in the works which I will be sharing with you in the upcoming weeks. Recently, I found some sweet vintage treasures at the thrift shop that I repurposed.

Sweet Mr. Decor shot this video. He has now decided we need better editing equipment so the video quality should improve in the upcoming weeks.

For those of you who prefer pictures, I have been playing around with Picasa. Here are just some of the vintage plates and cake servers that are now for sale in my Etsy shop.

Give the front bathroom a makeover. Touch up painting on all the walls, moulding and doors. Continue to scour Craiglist for furniture for the office. Several sewing projects. Update my Etsy site. Taking a class on soldering.

Needless to say I have to ground myself from blogging until Friday when I will return with a Friday Freebie and hopefully several completed projects to share with you.

Friday, January 8, 2010

There is something about January that brings out the clean in me. I am currently in the midst of reaching into the tiny crevices of my home and coming out with handfuls of crumbs and dust bunnies. However my family is ahem, not quite so enthusiastic. I have perhaps found the perfect solution for those who eternally are trying to create a carpet of clothes.

Designer/artist Tom Price created a series of chairs for an exhibition entitled From Now To Eternity. He placed layers of polyester clothing into a hot steel former that had been molded into a seat shape. The plastic in the polyester then melted and transformed into a hard, shiny chair.

While this is indeed recycling at its most creative I don't think I will be making room in my home any time soon for one of these creations. Although certain members of my family, who shall remain nameless, have tried their best to convince me that their lack of being able to connect their clothes with the hamper means that they are merely trying to create fine art. Um, sure.

You may have noticed a new look to my blog. It too got the once over. Love it? Hate it? I'd love to hear what you like, dislike, and would love to see more of. (Don't worry, my skin is thick.)